Thursday, February 16, 2006

Funeral Today

There is, in our considered opinion, almost no musical piece that sounds better on bagpipes than "Amazing Grace." There is also no sadder piece of music than "Balmoral," the traditional funeral march of the Chicago Police Department.

Funeral coverage at Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7. We must admit, we didn't see any of the alleged less than respectful behavior pointed out in some of the previous comments section. But it did seem less crowded than at previous funerals. Part of that could have been weather related. Part of it may have been Performance of Duty/On Duty rather than Line of Duty (do we have that right?). Part of it may even have been that not as many people heard about the incident - there were a bunch of comments on this site that said people hadn't even heard about the accident last month.

Regardless, the entire event seemed to have gone off without a hitch, which is both impressive and depressing: Impressive that we can do it well; depressing that we have had so much practice that we are able to do it well.

Good job by the Emerald Society, the Illinois State Police, and all the suburban departments that were involved. Thanks. Also, I thought it was awesome the the Fire Department had 2 Ladder trucks extended over the entrance to the cemetery with the American flag hanging from the connected ladders. Those who were there know what I'm talking about. I think just about everyone outside the church got choked up when the Loyola University president gave his Mom his college degree that he was supposed to get this summer at the graduation ceremony. Overall a sad day for our Department. Watch over us all, Eric. See ya.

A special thanks to Dep. Radke, Commander Sullivan and LT. Mcmahon from traffic, for the planning and coordinating of the funeral procession that went off without a hitch, also thanks to the officers working the event and all the officers that braved the elements to be with us out there today; it was much appreciated. TRU.............

I was at the funeral standing outside directing traffic for the entire tour and was cold,wet etc...I was honored to have served ...no complaints...God Bless Eric and his Mother and family..rest in peace my brother

It was amazing how well the entire day was coordinated. I am very proud to be part of the department on a day like today. The funeral prosession was miles long, and a great showing by the state and suburban departments made it possible for the prosession to arrive at the cemetary together. It was a sad day indeed! God bless you Eric...you won't be forgotten!!!!!!!

We heard honors funeral and star retirement, but weren't sure if it was "Line of Duty" or "Performance of Duty"

Line of Duty had traditionally meant death due to a criminal act and Performance had meant during police action (heart attack, fatal fall, etc.) But they have revamped everything lately and we still aren't 100% sure which is which.

The dept. has changed it's policy. They will retire Stars of Officers Killed in the Line of Duty and those Killed in the Performance of Duty. Chicago was the only city that did'nt honor those killed in the performance of duty. Cline changed the policy about a year ago.

YES...Retired Star AND Line of Duty Death. {Thanks to Supt. Cline for the change) Dont forget our St Jude March, CPD Memorial Dedication [following Monday] and our support to 'all' that made the Ultimate Sacrifice in Washington DC 13,14, 15 May. At times like this it should serve as evidence of our commitment to serve and stick together to support that "Thin Blue Line" Stay safe our brothers and sisters...RIP Eric.

My humble opinion and comments.... I have not missed a PO's funeral in over 30+ years. [morbid... no, just caring] If you only knew how it was in the 70's where, while we had 21 Districts, we were lucky to get 10-15 CPD vehicles in the procession. I/we were embarassed when the procession left and while it was 2 miles long, 90% of the cars were "outside" agencies, including many from out of state. Chicago had some kind of insurance regulation that would not allow us to leave the city, thus we would never reciprocate with a marked squad(s). We have come a long way and rightly so. The most significant change, in my experience, is our Honor Guard Detail. They are all volunteers, look sharp, most if not all, are former military. They 'drill' regularly to stay sharp. They believe in what they do and strive to keep the politics out of their unit and it shows. I've been to Washington D.C. [my 9th successive year] and see OUR Honor Guard there representing OUR Department. I was surprised that our Department does NOT pay their way/expenses for all those in attendance. Yet, we are well represented. They perform their functions out of love and respect for OUR members and department. They do us proud. While Eric's funeral 'could and should' have been more heavily attended by our members in blue, lets not put a negative spin on it. My comments here are not intended as a beef, just a reminder and a wake-up for all us to make every effort to support our police family in times like these. Our individual participation at the wakes and funerals of fellow law enforcement members send a message to their families of our commitment to those families to......... "Never Let Them Walk Alone." ALL GAVE SOME BECAUSE SOME GAVE ALLRest in Peace Brother Eric! from an ol' vet

Was at the funeral...Kudos to all who stood out in the rain and cold directing traffic...Kudos to Capt. Johnson and all the good people from the 009th District who went out and obtained a nice spread for the rank and file people, they always do stuff for the exempts but everyone always forgets the peons...The Pipes and Drums of the Police Department did a great job at the funeral...Everyone involved did a fantastic job coordinating the funeral and making sure it worked.

It wasn't a matter of insurance that kept CPD cars out of other PD's funerals, it was the lousy , terrible bosses that we had. They did not give a wit about us let alone some outside agency, what a bunch of horrible old bastards, they would climb a tower to hurt a cop. For all the crying that goes on on this blog, remeber it could be much worse, and it was.

Aside from Daley mispronouncing his unit, the TACTICAL Repsonse Unit, all things went well with Officer Solario's services.I will not debate if more P.O.'s should have been there, his family and unit was there, enough said.There was an impressive convoy of squads, over 325, taking him to his final resting place. Kudos to State Police, Summit, Bedford Park and all other suburban departments for clearing the way.Very classy move by CFD hoisting the flag over the cemetary entrance and snapping to attention. I for one do not believe the hype about us and CFD, we'd do the same for them.All in all, a top notch performance on a very sad day.